Atelier is the French word for "workshop" or "studio"; in English it is used primarily for the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing pieces of fine art or visual art released under the master's name or supervision.This was the standard vocational practice for European artists from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, and common elsewhere in the world.